Science Library

The Science Library includes technical papers documenting the results achieved with Holistic Management, case studies, profiles, white papers and photos that tell the stories behind the data, plus papers and articles by Allan Savory.

Technical Papers

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Authored by Allan Savory

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Evaluation of Holistic Management

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The Effect of Holistic Planned Grazing on African Rangelands: A Case Study from Zimbabwe

Summary: South Africa’s Agricultural Research Council completed this study over a 6-year period (2010-2016) comparing the Africa Centre for Holistic Management’s land at Dimbangombe under

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Cover Crops in Livestock Production: Whole-System Approach Managing Grazing to Restore Soil Health and Farm Livelihoods.

Read full article: “Forages and Pastures Symposium: Cover Crops in Livestock Production: Whole-System Approach Managing Grazing to Restore Soil Health and Farm Livelihoods“

Summary: This paper

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Accordion Content

Livestock and Climate Change

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The Grazing Debate

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White Papers

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Before & After Photos

: South Africa, Karoo Region: Left: Land under Holistic Management for several decades, that started out as bare ground and small desert bushes. Right: Neighboring land that has remained under conventional management over the same period. Courtesy Norman Kroon

: Wyoming: Left: Upstream land —Properly managed using Holistic Management (250% increase in livestock numbers). Right: Downstream land—Managed conventionally. Same stream, same day, different management. Courtesy Savory Institute

: Before: Beaufort West (South Africa) farmer Dave Jack’s farm in the 1970s when Allan Savory flew there. Dave graded the airstrip in anticipation of Allan’s arrival, with the result that perennial grass emerged, after 100 years, in an area where 6km was measured between two annual grass plants at the time. The sheep grazed on desert scrub. After: The same farm today, after more than 40 years of Holistic Management.

: Zimbabwe: Left: Land on which livestock under Holistic Planned Grazing were concentrated each evening in a lion-proof enclosure for a week. Right: The same land three years later. Elephants now concentrate on this spot, presumably because of the more nutritious forage. Courtesy Savory Institute

: Guillermo Osuna, owner of Las Pilas Ranch, describes the photos: The pictures were taken in 1953 and 2007. The drought of the 1950s was certainly a factor, but the dramatic change we can see in the pictures was due to improving the ground cover. The changes began when I first realized that, as cattlemen, our first objective should be to grow grass, which we could then harvest with livestock. Real progress in this direction really began in 1980, though, when we first started practicing what we now know as holistic planned grazing. It is interesting to note that the average rainfall for the last six decades here at Las Pilas has really not changed very much, although the year-to-year fluctuations can be very big. In 2010, we had the biggest rainfall of record, 64 inches, and in 2011 we got less than 4 inches.

: Kachana Before & After, 1992 and 1999 Photos are the property of Kachana Pastoral Company PL.Our seasons here are much the same as in Zimbabwe – a brief rainy season, followed by 8 to 9 months of dry season.In 1991 and 1992 it did not matter what part of season it was, it all looked the same…Sure, there have been seasonal factors involved, but management is the key. Last year was much like 1992 and we were still getting over 800 stock days per hectare off that area…Now, after record-breaking rainfall in January (it has rained every day since…) the place looks like a swamp… back then all the water would have gone down-stream taking soil with it…We are still losing soil, but in this area we are building more than we are losing. Chris Henggeler

: Site 1, Before: October 2004. Bare for more than 30 years, it was believed this soil under these mopane trees could not grow grass. Site 1, After: September 2006. Two years following impact with a herd of 500 cattle held in a movable, predator-proof ”kraal” at night for a week, there is an abundance of grass.

: Site 2, Before: October 2006. Shortly before the movable predator-proof kraal was placed on this site. Arrow points to the tree in the photo below. Site 2, After: March 2009. Three years later the increased productivity at the end of the rains is dramatic.

: Site 2, After: November 2009. By the end of the dry season the newly abundant forage has been grazed or trampled to the surface, creating a mulch through which plants will send up new leaves when the rains begin.

: Site 2, Before (close up): The tree roots exposed in the inset show how much soil has been lost to erosion over the years.

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Profiles & Case Studies

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30% of the world’s arable land has become unproductive in the past 40 years due to erosion.

Pimentel, David. “Soil Erosion: A Food and Environmental Threat.” Environment, Development and Sustainability, vol. 8, no. 1, 2006, pp. 119–137 (page 123)., doi:10.1007/s10668-005-1262-8. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10668-005-1262-8

20% of global pasture and 73% of global rangeland in the drylands has been degraded.

Kwon, Ho-Young, et al. “Global Estimates of the Impacts of Grassland Degradation on Livestock Productivity from 2001 to 2011.” Economics of Land Degradation and Improvement â A Global Assessment for Sustainable Development, 2015, pp. 197–214., doi:10.1007/978-3-319-19168-3_8. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-19168-3_8

74% of North American dryland has been affected by desertification.

Hilton, Ronald. “The Geography of Desertification.” Stanford University, 5 May 2002, wais.stanford.edu/Geography/geography_ofdesertification5502.html.

At current rates of soil loss, only 60 years of harvest remain before global topsoil is depleted.

“International Year of Soil Conference.” Food and Agriculture Organization, 6 July 2015, www.fao.org/soils-2015/events/detail/en/c/338738/.

Despite widespread land degradation, global meat and dairy production is projected to increase by at least 158% by 2050.

Kwon, Ho-Young, et al. “Global Estimates of the Impacts of Grassland Degradation on Livestock Productivity from 2001 to 2011.” Economics of Land Degradation and Improvement â A Global Assessment for Sustainable Development, 2015, pp. 197–214., doi:10.1007/978-3-319-19168-3_8. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-19168-3_8

Regenerative grazing enhances soil carbon allocation and microbial biomass.

Microbial biomass Carbon was lower by half in excluded (no-grazing) plots vs. grazed plots (0.16 vs. 0.37 mg/g)
There was 22% lower SOC/SONitrogen stock in exclosure compared to grazed plots after 15 years (6.7% vs. 8.5%)
Wilson, Chris H., et al. “Grazing Enhances Belowground Carbon Allocation, Microbial Biomass, and Soil Carbon in a Subtropical Grassland.” Global Change Biology, vol. 24, no. 7, 2018, pp. 2997–3009., doi:10.1111/gcb.14070. https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/wiley/grazing-enhances-belowground-carbon-allocation-microbial-biomass-and-T504io4z7N

Ranches utilizing Holistic Planned Grazing can sequester 3 tons more carbon per hectare per year compared to conventional grazing

Each 1 percent increase in soil organic matter helps soil hold 20,000 gallons more water per acre.

Bryant, Lara. “Organic Matter Can Improve Your Soil’s Water Holding Capacity.” NRDC, 15 Dec. 2016, www.nrdc.org/experts/lara-bryant/organic-matter-can-improve-your-soils-water-holding-capacity.

We can become carbon neutral by increasing soil carbon content by just 0.4% a year.

“The 4 per 1000 Initiative in a Few Words.” The 4 per 1000 Initiative in a Few Words | 4p1000, www.4p1000.org/4-1000-initiative-few-words.

Every tonne of carbon added to the soil removes 3.67 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Teague, W.R., et al. “The Role of Ruminants in Reducing Agriculture’s Carbon Footprint in North America.” Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, www.jswconline.org/content/71/2/156.full.pdf+html.

Properly managed grazing, if applied on 25% of our crop and grasslands, would mitigate the entire carbon footprint of North American agriculture.

Soil from properly managed grazing operations have been shown to sequester up to 7 tons carbon/hectare/year.

Machmuller, Megan B., et al. “Emerging Land Use Practices Rapidly Increase Soil Organic Matter.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 30 Apr. 2015, www.nature.com/articles/ncomms7995.

Profile of good stewardship: the Rafter F Cattle Company (2001)

Read full paper: Profile of good stewardship: the Rafter F Cattle Company (2001) Summary: Arid and semiarid rangelands (receiving less than 10 or 20 inches of

August 26, 2018 No Comments

Doing What Works, Chris Gill, Range Magazine (2009)

Read full paper: Doing What Works, Chris Gill, Range Magazine (2009) Summary:

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Managing Grass, Small Grains, and Cattle (1992)

Read full paper: Managing Grass, Small Grains, and Cattle (1992) Summary: “Instead of managing grass, small grains, and cattle for their own sake, I try to manage

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Resilience on the Prairie Edge: The 777 Buffalo Ranch (2010)

Read full journal: Resilience on the Prairie Edge: The 777 Buffalo Ranch (2010) Summary:

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Grazing management impacts on vegetation, soil biota and soil chemical, physical and hydrological properties in tall grass prairie, Teague, R. (2011)

Read full paper: Grazing management impacts on vegetation, soil biota and soil chemical, physical and hydrological properties in tall grass prairie, Teague, R. (2011) Summary: To assess

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“A little bit of a bloody big amount”, Mark Stevenson, chapter from the book An Optimist’s Tour of the Future (2011)

Read full text: “A little bit of a bloody big amount”, Mark Stevenson, chapter from the book An Optimist’s Tour of the Future (2011) Excerpt: “As part of

August 26, 2018 No Comments

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Science Library

The Science Library includes technical papers documenting the results achieved with Holistic Management, case studies, profiles, white papers and photos that tell the stories behind the data, plus papers and articles by Allan Savory.

Technical Papers

Other Support

Authored by Allan Savory

Fast Facts

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